DATE: 27 - 30 Jan 2009
The Mekong early morning from Tammila Guesthouse.
The ferry crossing with 2 semi-trailers, loaded with concrete fence posts.
The trucks & drivers were from Kamphaeng Phet & I wondered who & what sort of deal had been done to truck concrete fence posts all the way from Kamphaeng Phet to Houei Xai?
It's always interesting crossing the `Khong at Chiang Khong / Houei Xai with the boats. You hope for the car ferry, so that you don't have to wade around in the mud 'n water loading / unloading your bike into the small boat & then worrying about the bike falling into the river as you cross.
Then you get the car ferry loaded up with trucks & heavy loads. The ferry almost tips over when the trucks drive on / off the ferry & you wonder whether the ferry will sink as your crossing the Mekong.
In October last year a Chinese truck loaded with gas went through the decking on the Lao ferry as it drove on. At least it wasn't mid stream & I wasn't on it.
Houei Xai, main street up from the immigration checkpoint.
This blew me away. Years ago, when it was still the jungle trail Houei Xai - Luang Namtha, who would have ever thought you'd be seeing huge tour buses & traffic jams like this in Houei Xai?
Silverhawk on the road R3 Houei Xai - Luang Namtha
We weren't the only riders on the road
Don Chai is still one of my favourite Lao villages & if you take your time with the locals you can get some nice snaps.
Getting them to smile & laugh is not that difficult
If you want to spend a night in a village, then give Don Chai a go. When the road was still all dirt, I spent many nights in Don Chai for a break. The villagers are friendly & they were / are used to foreigners over-nighting there. One of the "problems" I see now with the new road is that "everyone" just races through on a mission to get to the other end without stopping much or spending time in the villages. The villagers aren't getting much out of the new road & the people passing through??
Go slow & take your time & get photos.
The brush & naked kids village. They were everywhere.
The kids had been skinny dipping in the village stream & came up to see the farang with their motorbikes & join in the photos. Pretty funny & what an idyllic life they were living.
At Boten, they've "moved the border" & there's a new Lao checkpoint 600 metres further on at the border. Inside the building they were "fully computerized" with banks of computers to handle the volume of Chinese coming down & up.
The view from "across the line."
Silverhawk was a superstar for this Chinese couple, highly impressed with his Suzuki DR650 they were!
Cruising along I spotted some kids with a giant swing beside the road. Light weight steel it was not. Fun it was!
The roadside meat market
8,000 kip (30 baht) was the asking price & unhappy he was
A mule train & not something I had seen on the road in Laos before.
Note the sun hat on the guy at the back.
Note the truck going past; I reckon that he might be able to carry a bit more load.
Thanks to Silverhawk for being patient while I was getting roadside photos with people.
Pak Mong - Nong Khiew
Nong Khiew & The Nam Ou
The Mekong early morning from Tammila Guesthouse.
The ferry crossing with 2 semi-trailers, loaded with concrete fence posts.
The trucks & drivers were from Kamphaeng Phet & I wondered who & what sort of deal had been done to truck concrete fence posts all the way from Kamphaeng Phet to Houei Xai?
It's always interesting crossing the `Khong at Chiang Khong / Houei Xai with the boats. You hope for the car ferry, so that you don't have to wade around in the mud 'n water loading / unloading your bike into the small boat & then worrying about the bike falling into the river as you cross.
Then you get the car ferry loaded up with trucks & heavy loads. The ferry almost tips over when the trucks drive on / off the ferry & you wonder whether the ferry will sink as your crossing the Mekong.
In October last year a Chinese truck loaded with gas went through the decking on the Lao ferry as it drove on. At least it wasn't mid stream & I wasn't on it.
Houei Xai, main street up from the immigration checkpoint.
This blew me away. Years ago, when it was still the jungle trail Houei Xai - Luang Namtha, who would have ever thought you'd be seeing huge tour buses & traffic jams like this in Houei Xai?
Silverhawk on the road R3 Houei Xai - Luang Namtha
We weren't the only riders on the road
Don Chai is still one of my favourite Lao villages & if you take your time with the locals you can get some nice snaps.
Getting them to smile & laugh is not that difficult
If you want to spend a night in a village, then give Don Chai a go. When the road was still all dirt, I spent many nights in Don Chai for a break. The villagers are friendly & they were / are used to foreigners over-nighting there. One of the "problems" I see now with the new road is that "everyone" just races through on a mission to get to the other end without stopping much or spending time in the villages. The villagers aren't getting much out of the new road & the people passing through??
Go slow & take your time & get photos.
The brush & naked kids village. They were everywhere.
The kids had been skinny dipping in the village stream & came up to see the farang with their motorbikes & join in the photos. Pretty funny & what an idyllic life they were living.

At Boten, they've "moved the border" & there's a new Lao checkpoint 600 metres further on at the border. Inside the building they were "fully computerized" with banks of computers to handle the volume of Chinese coming down & up.
The view from "across the line."
Silverhawk was a superstar for this Chinese couple, highly impressed with his Suzuki DR650 they were!
Cruising along I spotted some kids with a giant swing beside the road. Light weight steel it was not. Fun it was!
The roadside meat market

8,000 kip (30 baht) was the asking price & unhappy he was
A mule train & not something I had seen on the road in Laos before.
Note the sun hat on the guy at the back.

Note the truck going past; I reckon that he might be able to carry a bit more load.
Thanks to Silverhawk for being patient while I was getting roadside photos with people.
Pak Mong - Nong Khiew
Nong Khiew & The Nam Ou